welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories that we are following for you. >> in these early weeks access to healthcare.gov has been a miserable experience for way to many americans. >> kathleen sebelius says the buck stops with her. >> and free after three years in captivity, these four french hostages are going home. ♪

>> the health and human services secretary is still answering questions on the capitol hill at this hour. the house committee grilling kathleen sebelius about the troubled affordable care website. beginning her testimony an hour ago with an apology. >> let me say directly to these americans. you deserve better. i apologize. i am accountable for you for fixing these problems, and i'm committed to earning your confidence back by fixing the site. >> randall pinkston us now live on capitol hill. randall apologizing, taking responsibility, so how does she say they are going to go about fixing the problem in >> she says the work is already underway, technicians are running tests constantly, and already more people can use it. unfortunately this morning, there was an instance where some

of the, members went to the site and showed that it was not working, at that moment. he just checked it and it is working. so it is still up and down. the republicans have been pounding her on a number of issues, including security questions about the website and of course what they say is a broken promise made by president obama that people who had an insurance plan that they liked would be able to keep the plan. here is an example of the exchange. >> responsible for overseeing this project is it you or your designee. >> i'm not pointing fingers at verizon. we own the site. the site has had serious problems -- >> who is in charge. >> the person now in charge is qssi -- >> who was in charge as it was

being built. >> it was in charge up until -- >> who is the individual -- >> michelle snyder. >> michelle snyder is the one responsible for this debacle. >> excuse me, congress woman, michelle snyder is not accountable for the debacle. hold me accountable, i'll responsible. >> that exchange had to do with the contractor who was hired to built the site. secretary sebelius in intense questioning by representative blackburn. >> obviously she has had better days, have we heard from the democrats. what are they saying today? >> well the democrats of course are making sure that they point out instances where the site -- where the program is working. the affordable care act is working if not with respect to the government site, they are

looking at the health care exchanges that have been established in states. and essentially accusing republicans of being hypocrites. here is congressman engel. >> it is the law and frankly, i find it disconcerting that my republican colleagues have done nothing but root for this law to fail for the last three years. and now there is this big show of being upset with the website of keeping people from signing up fast enough. so you are really on the long side of history here. the website will be fixed and millions of americans will be able to get quality affordable healthcare coverage through the affordable care act. >> and secretary sebelius is again promising that everything will be squared away and ironed out by the end of november. we'll see, dell. >> randall pinkston on capitol

hill. thank you very much. as the new health care act is rolling out, millions of insurance companies are rolling out letters to their clients. david talked to one such couple in north carolina. >> reporter: greg and his wife not an unpleasant surprise from their insurance company. they currently play $629 to cover themselves and their daughter. but in a letter blue cross and blue shield of north carolina said they are ending their policy and offering them a new one. the price tag, $1,015. >> i don't naturally get angry, but i was angry after that. after all of this waiting

getting a letter saying your premium is almost double. it was shock. >> if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period. >> reporter: while the vast majority of people are covered through work and have plans which are largely unaffected, roughly 15 million americans purchase health insurance on their own. an estimated 85% of those policies are not competable with the new health care law. so insurers are mailing out millions of letters to customers across the country, informing them their policies are being adjusted or discontinued. the new healthcare law requireings nearly everyone to buy health insurance or pay a fine. but there are new standards to your policy whether you guy them here in north carolina or across the country, then it causes the

premium to go up if you buy insurance on your own. the plans are required to offer more coverage. >> if you are about 400% of poverty, and your premiums are going up, your premiums are going up. >> reporter: the overall rise is expected to be much lower, increasing between 10 and 13%. and many -- won't qualify for subsi subsidies. but for those like greg, anita, and millions of others who earn too much to get government assistance, the new health law means less money in their pockets. >> we're going to shop around and look for a different plan, and i think we can get less than $1,100, but it's still going to be more. if you get a social security

check you will likely be getting one of the smallest raises in decades. the annual cost of living adjustment or cola will rise by 1.5%. it is one of the smallest increases since the 1970s. the un arab league enjoy, lakhdar brahimi met with syrian president, bashar al-assad, trying to encourage the regime and increasingly divided opposition forces to come to the table. imran khan has more on that evacuation. >> reporter: this is a rare moment of relief and cooperation. some 1800 syrians have been tr trapped in the war-ravaged area.

priority has been given to the sick elderly and children. officials say the civilians were taken to temporary shelters, and one of the women involved said all of the parties cooperated well. >> we received call from inside and from the people that -- from inhabitants that were outside this place, that they would prefer to go out because it is not only a matter of eating, but also it's a matter, you know, of security. so we began to negotiate on this basis, and the good thing in this initiative is that everybody is partner. >> reporter: the government is eager to show it cooperated and helped facility the process. >> translator: the people leaving are the last people leaving from the agreement. >> reporter: others are much

more cynical. for the president, the neighborhood now being free of civilians could allow for tactical military advantage. for the rebel groups it gives them a chance to recuperate and regroup. whatever the reason for the move, the residents are helpful. >> translator: the government coming here is like medicine to us. thank you for that. and thanks for the syrian army and may god protect you. >> reporter: but in other areas, they block the area in an attempt to get the rebelled out. so much is now concentrated around this area. five people have been arrested with what they are

calling a suicide car attack near beijing square. police say knives, gasoline and other items were found inside. suspects are said to be members of the muslim group which has been battling with chinese security forces for years now. at least 40 people are dead in india after a bus crashed and burst in to flames. >> police have confirmed to us that the driver and a bus cle cleaner are among the seven who survived the crash. he said he was trying to overtake another vehicle in the early hours, when we hit an obstruction and hit a fuel tank which burst into flames. the bus had an automatic locking

system which may have trapped several victims. one of the reasons we keep having all of these bus crashes in india is because of the lack of knowledge of safety requirements, and the poor infrastructure in the area. when the crashes do happen, they are far away to get help, and the road conditions are full of potholes and unpaved conditions, which is why these kind of accidents keep happening in the country. four frenchmen are back in france right now, they were on abducted in raids in 2010. tim has more. >> reporter: relief and overwhelming emotion. back on french soil after three years of uncertainty, and the constant threat of being killed. on the tarmac hugs and kisses from family, and a welcome from

the president. >> translator: it's an immense joy for the men. and i want to salute their courage, three years, three years of an ordeal of waiting, of suffering. >> reporter: the men will be given a checkup in hospital, and then tell what they know to intelligence officers before returning home. a random of up to $34 million was paid for the men's release, although that has been denied by the company, ariva, and the government. earlier the men arrived after being freed in northern molli. >> translator: the kidnapping as you know hand three years ago, and since then all means have been used to try to free them. i would like to congratulate the

team to whom i gave this mission. i congratulate the hostages. >> reporter: the hostages describe their experience as a nightmare. at one point they were filmed at gunpoint. their captors, al-qaeda and the [ inaudible ] accused the french of stealing uranium, and demanded that the french leave afghanistan. but their primary demand was money. they may over their lives to the reported success in securing a randsome. this is the story that everybody will be talking about. while talking to thousands of people at st. peter square, pope francis it seems made a new friend. a little boy wanted to sit in his chair. an aid tried to get the boy off

of the stage, but instead the little boy wrapped his arms ash the pontiffs leg. and the pope didn't seem to mind and continued on with the boy by his side. up next, a look at how alcoholic parties blurs the line sometimes between consensual sex and rape.

♪ it is safe to say that steve jobs changed the way all of us live with little devices like this. now a part of his childhood home is going to be preserved. now an historic site. the garage is where jobs and steve wozniak built some of the first apple computers. after setting record highs

yesterday, the stock market is pretty much flat about right now, investors marking time ahead of this afternoon's assessment for the fed. and flat is the operative word, down less than 3 points. not much change in what we pay for things, retail inflation went up just .2 of a percent in april. they say consumer prices have risen just 1.2%. and this is a sad story, apparently not enough wine around the world. morgan stanley saying supply isn't enough to keep up with the worldwide demand. it is short by about 300 million cases this year. bad weather is to blame. casual relationships or what students call hooking up seem to

be common on college campuses. casey coffman takes us to kansas university where students take a break from their studies with a house party. >> reporter: it's a party weekend at the university of kansas, but it could be any college in america. arthur and casey are seniors. it's their last year before going out into the real world. >> tapping the keg right now, getting it going. >> reporter: and they say they are going to make the most of it. the beer bong, the keg stand, the handle pull, and a popular sport called beer pong isn't the only thing they are going to do. >> we'll probably end up blacking the [ censor bleep ] out.

find biddies, and out of them, and then wake up the next day and take them out for breakfast. you hear about the girl at the time she knows what she is doing, and wants to do what she is doing, and then she wakes up, and is like what did i do last night. >> if she had come up to me and be like i don't know who we [ censor bleep ] you are, and i didn't want to have sex with you, i don't know what i would do. it's terrifying. >> megan and emily are also in their last year at ku. they are in the same social circle as arthur and case i can and have partied most weekends since they started school here. >> the purpose of the weekend is getting out of class, getting a burger, drinking, getting ready,

drinking some more, going out and getting wasted. the most wild night you can imagine. no one really remembers the best night. that's the problem. >> reporter: even after nights of heavy drinking and hooking up, emmy and megan don't have regrets or feel they are in much danger. >> honestly everyone wakes up like god i should haven't done that. but i never look back and think i wish that night never would have happened. >> i definitely think there's a level of danger, but we have such great guy friends that they respect us. they have a level of respect. >> this is my boy's girlfriend. [ censor bleep ] >> because our friendships are so tight, i don't think anyone would come close to crossing the line without somebody saying something about it. if it became inappropriate, i think one of our friends would

have stepped in and said listen, you need to stop. >> i wasn't being disrespectful. >> at the end of the day we're all going to hang out tomorrow and have a great time. our colleagues at "america tonight" are investigating sex crimes on campus. their special series can be seen all week this week at 9:00 pm eastern time. tonight's report taking a look at the rise of binge drinking. up next on al jazeera america . . . >> it is reported that at 8:50 pm a huge flaming object believed to be a meteorite fell on a farm. >> we're looking at the world's radio broadcast.

welcome back to al jazeera america.

i'm del walters. these are your headlines. health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius apologizing to the american people for the state of healthcare.gov, the website. she testified on capitol hill a short time ago, saying the site is being fixed. at least 40 people dieing in a bus crash in india. the bus caught fire after the driver ran into a roadside barrier. four french hostages are free. they returned home today after being held for some three years. the group was taken by an african country in niger, where they worked as a you uranium mine. 75 years ago today the war of the world convinced millions that martians were invading.

>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, from the meridian room in the park plaza hotel in new york city. >> reporter: 75 years after the cbs radio production of war in the worlds fooled millions of americans in to thinking that a martian invasion was underway, they are at it again. >> ladies and gentlemen, we bring you a special bulletin from the -- >> reporter: the actor reeled in their unsuspected audience with a mixture of music and fake bulletins. >> what sounded like actual news cut a ways fooled people at that time. >> reporter: it was 1938, war was brewing in europe, the u.s. was on edge, what would you think if you heard this coming out of your radio. >> a bulletin has handed me,

caution cylinders are falling all over the country. one outside of buffalo, one in chicago. >> reporter: this was a different era, you had the dad, mom, and boy listening to the radio. wells himself said it was the radio equivalent of putting a white sheet over your body, jumping out from behind a bush and saying boo. >> i think there was something like over 2,000 phone calls to the trenton police for over two years. people were using party lines back then. so it was a big deal. >> reporter: these people host war of the worlds events regularly, one question they are asked today is could it happen today? >> absolutely. because there is a lot of fear, a lot of terror, a lot of things

that scare us. if it was put into something modern today, online, facebook. >> reporter: the whole country was scared. >> it's large. large as a bear and glistens like wet leather but the face -- ladies and gentlemen, it's indescribable. >> reporter: the people of grovers mill fell for it 75 years ago. today they simply revel in it. ♪ and i'm dave warren. we are talking about the weather today. big change between the west coast and the east coast, cold air from the north and warm air come .up from the north. you are seeing strong storms develop, and all of this rain is pushing to the east. a few strong storms with

flooding possible. and they will continue to push from west to east, so this area of the country could see severe weather throughout the afternoon and evening. no storms on the west coast. maybe a few snow flakes falling. light rain coming down as the warm air moves up from the south across the northeast. you see the warm air coming up from the northeast. in denver close to 33 degrees there. 23 in billings. that cold front will eventually move from west to east. this is the outlook for tomorrow. here is all of the rain predicted. it will it will be through the great lakes and through louisiana. it looks like throughout the day maybe just patchy temperatures climbing. dell? >> thank you very much. thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york.

"inside story" is next. and always check us out 24 hours a day, on aljazeera.com. >> well, fixing website glitches fix the affordable care act, and will enough americans sign up? that's tonight's inside story. >> hello, i'm libby casey in washington. as the obama administration races to fix the healthcare.gov website, critics are turning up the heat. the latest issue, how many americans who have to pay for their own health insurance now have to switch to fl comply with the law.